Monday 10 October 2011

James Blake-Enough Thunder EP



I'll start this by saying that if you didn't like James Blake before, it's unlikely you're going to "get" this. His new EP has not made any major leaps away from his debut album, but change isn't always a great thing. I mean, look at the new Maroon 5 song. Complete bollocks. What James Blakes new EP does show is a more ballady side to him. "James Blake" was hardly the heaviest 'dubstep' album ever and that's what made it great. Blake's subtlety and ability to manipulate the samples he worked with make him such a groundbreaking artist. Enough Thunder doesn't move from this manipulation of sound had use of silence and he's even kept the weird hiss from the album on ( I thought it was just my computer messing up). The opening track "Once We All Agree" could have come straight off the album, with his lyrics being backed by his reverb heavy piano and occasional bass sample. But unlike the album, the song doesn't build up in anyway and continues on a same sound throughout. "Not Long Now" does find a build up and it sounds better for it. The collaboration with Bon Iver is good, but not good enough to be the best on here. More was expected of this track and it just seems to lose direction, and like most the other songs, just ends.

Although not as groundbreaking as his debut, this is still a good EP and shows that James Blake still has ideas. He seems to be buoyed by his Mercury nomination and is trying to push forward in the same direction, but it just doesn't really go anywhere unlike the album.

7/10

Best Track: Not Long Now      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5sKFy1Cxzk

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